Board of directors

Mr. La Salle, FCPA, FCA, has over 20 years of experience in the development and operation of mining projects in West Africa. In 1995, he founded Canadian-based SEMAFO Inc., which grew from a junior explorer to a +250,000 ounce-per-year gold producer in West Africa. Mr. La Salle has been, and remains, a key stakeholder, an investor, a chairman, a board member or an executive of many public and private sector companies, primarily in the mining, energy and clean tech sectors where he has been a strong proponent of transformational change and shareholder value creation.

Mr. Taub holds a BA in Languages from the University of Antwerp (Belgium) and an MBA from INSEAD (Fontainebleau, France). An entrepreneur in the life sciences field, he is also an investor in several pharmaceutical and medical device companies. Mr. Taub was previously the CEO and founder of a NASDAQ-listed company and is currently an investor and chair of another NASDAQ-listed firm.

Mr. Nolet de Brauwere is a mining engineer with over 35 years of industrial experience, gained across the mining, management consulting and healthcare sectors. Since 1997, Mr. Nolet de Brauwere serves as president of PhysIOL SA, a designer and manufacturer of intraocular lenses for cataract surgery. He holds a master’s degree in civil mining engineering from Université catholique of Louvain (UCL) and a master’s degree in industrial management from Katholieke Universiteit Leuven (KUL). A member of Ashoka Support Network, Mr. Nolet de Brauwere sits on the boards of several Belgium-based, privately held companies.

Yves Grou is a CPA CA, having received his Bachelor in Commerce degree from McGill University. He is a member of the Québec Institute of Chartered Professional Accountants. He was co-founder in 1980 and a partner until 2004 of GLA. At GLA, Mr. Grou coordinated and led the reverse take-over process related to several public companies, having completed several transactions with mining, oil and gas, telecommunications and medical devices companies. In 2004, GLA was sold to an accounting firm.

Nikolaos Sofronis is founder of BS Family Office Assets Management S.A Geneva, specializing in private equity. He gained his over 16 years of experience in private banking in the most prestigious institutions in Luxembourg and Switzerland. Previously, he served as chair of a London-listed corporation. For the last 20 years, he has been actively involved in the mining sector.

Dr. Elena Clarici is a mining engineer, with a B.Eng in mining gained at University of Belgrade in 1989. She also holds a PhD in Mining and Environmental Engineering from the Royal School of Mines of the Imperial College of Science and Technology, obtained in 1994. Since 2016, she is founder, president and CEO of Micah Minerals Corp., a Canadian private company, since 2016. From 2013 to 2015, she was a director and board member of TSX-V listed Barkerville Gold Mines Ltd, and briefly interim CEO in 2014. She is a former chair of Association of Mining Analysts and a regular contributor to financial and mining media.

Dr. Jürgen Hambrecht obtained his doctorate in chemistry in 1975 from the University of Tübingen, Germany. Dr. Hambrecht served BASF in various responsibilities around the world for more than 35 years, lastly as chair of the board from 2003 until his retirement in May 2011. He was member of the supervisory boards of several companies and is presently chairman of the board of Trumpf SE.